The present invention relates to microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) tunable capacitors, switches and filter devices.
MEMS-based RF components are leading candidates for cellular front-end modules that need to support an increasing number of frequency bands and communication standards. Currently, most of the high-Q bandpass filters used in cellular modules are realized using off-chip, acoustic-resonant components, such as SAW devices. While SAW filters offer very low insertion loss (IL) and high quality factor (Q), they cannot be tuned, and therefore many transmit and receive SAW filters are needed to cover multiple frequency bands. Also, off-chip components must interface with integrated electronics at the board level, which introduces additional loss and creates a bottleneck to miniaturization of these modules.
Integrated single chip solutions to cellular modules are therefore desirable. Tunable MEMS LC filters can be prime candidates for multi-band cellular application if they meet the desired band specification in terms of insertion loss, out of band rejection, and Q. To increase the Q of an LC filter while maintaining low insertion loss, high Q tunable one-port and two-port (isolated) capacitors and inductors are needed. To date, lumped-element filters have failed to show tunable integrated solutions with low insertion loss in the UHF range (300 MHz-3 GHz) due to the fact that the loaded quality factors (Q) of on-chip inductors and capacitors (fixed and/or tunable) have not been adequately high. The required component Q to achieve small-bandwidth UHF filters with low insertion loss is greater than 100.
Although distributed filters have been shown at frequencies >5 GHz [S. Park, K. Y. Lee, and G. M. Rebeiz, “Low-loss 5.15-5.70-GHz RF MEMS switchable filter for wireless LAN applications,” IEEE Transaction of Microwave Theory and Technique, vol. 54, no. 11, pp. 3931-3939, November 2006], the size of such filters in the UHF range would be much larger (>10x) than the alternative lumped element filters. Also, the majority of reported tunable filters use an array of switched capacitors or other discrete tuning methods [see, G. K. Fedder and T. Mukherjee, “Tunable RF and analog circuits using on-chip MEMS passive components,” IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC '05), San Francisco, Calif., pp. 390-391, February 2005] to achieve frequency tuning. Continuous tuning, on the other hand, offers the additional benefit of adjusting the frequency response to account for any fabrication inaccuracies.
Thus, there is a need for improved tunable passives and filter devices for use in RF integrated circuits. To overcome the shortcoming of the prior art passives and LC filters, an improved design and micro-fabrication method for tunable and fixed inductors and tunable capacitors is necessary.